Lost Memories
by skylark336
Summary: Julia Buchanan is Jess Brennan's daughter she had in high school, but when Mitch's plan to kidnap Jess in the 2009/10 story line along with Rex's baby and in this ff's case Julia leaves her with no memory at all will she ever find her way home from the chop shop in Dayton, Ohio where Mitch is paying off Eddy Ford to hide her? James Ford/OC
1. Julie&Julia

**Here is my ****_One Life to Live_**** fanfic! I'm actually really proud of the start to it, but I want to let any die-hard soap fans that I only was able to watch the late and great soap for the last two years so if I goof on some of the storylines please forgive me!**

**The main character in the fanfic is Julia Buchanan, Jessica Brennan's daughter she had in high school, the father is not shared to the readers until possibly later. More of Julia's back story is going to be shared in this and following chapters! **

**Enjoy! **

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**LLANDVIEW, PENNSYLVANIA **

A night vigil took place in the town of Llandview in honor of Julia Buchanan. Police commissioner Bo Buchanan, great-uncle of the missing teen, gave the introductory speech to the crowd.

"We all gathered here tonight to gather support for a wonderful girl named Julia. Julia was taken a month ago today by her biological grandfather Mitch Lawrence. She was taken with her mother, Jessica, who fortunately was able to be saved through extensive police work days after their abduction. In the process of saving Jessica, Mitch was captured and is currently standing trial. Unfortunately, Julia still remains missing." Bo inhaled deeply to compose himself. "By being here tonight, we are showing that we have not given up and that we will not give up until Julia is home. I think that is fair. That we, the community of Llandview, do not give up on a young lady who did so much to make life better here whether it be through the volunteer work she did, lasting impression she left on us, or just that contagious smile. Thank you for coming out tonight. Anyone with tips for our investigators can please let LPD know. And Julia, if you're watching right now, where ever you are, just know we love you and you'll be home soon."

**DAYTON, OHIO**

James Ford was returning home to his father Eddy at his chop shop. He'd attempted to leave to go to be with his brother Robert but his father still had legal pull over him being his legal guardian. He walked into the front door of the shop and saw something he never thought he'd see in his father's shop. A girl. She was working at a desk in the front typing feverishly at an old, outdated computer of his father's.

"Hi." She said smiling. "How can I help you?"

"Hey," James replied, "Do you know where Eddie is? I'm his son, James."

"Oh, okay, of course. He's in the back. You can go ahead. He's been waiting for you."

_Of course he has, _James thought, but simply replied "Thanks." He headed back towards the actual auto part of the shop, but couldn't stop thinking about the girl. She seemed nice and she definitely wasn't lacking in the looks department. What was she doing working for James's father? The stench of oil filled the shop. As he walked in, he came face-to-face with Eddy.

"James, back so soon?"

"Yes, I saw your new employee. What are you doing hiring some innocent girl to work with you?"

"Oh, you met Julie? She's great, huh? Hot, too."  
"You're disgusting."

"Call it what you will. I'm a friend of her father's. Some car accident left her completely memory-free. Didn't even remember her own name until her father told her. So, I'm doing him a favor and watching over her until he takes care of some legal issues."

"Whatever you say." James looked back at Julie.

**LLANDVIEW, PA**

"I was only a teenager when I had Julia." Jessica started. "I was so unsure about everything. There was only one thing I was definite about her. She, as many of you know, was a very happy baby. And that happy baby grew up into a wonderful young woman who, unlike her mother, is decided on everything." Jess laughed under her breath as the audience surround did also on-cue. "She's one of the most persistent people I know. She sets her mind on something, and hell hath no fury like what happens if you get in her way. That's why I know my little girl's still safe out there. She's set her mind on coming home just as I have on helping her to get here. That's all she needs, some help. Because I know if she could, she'd be home with us all right now. Something or someone out there is getting in her way." She stared defiantly at the camera recording this to show at a later date. "Thank you all for coming out tonight. It means the world to me and Julia will be so thankful."


	2. Picture&Plan

**Hey everyone! Here's chapter 2! I want to thank everyone who has read and apologize for such a late update- hectic beginning of school. **

**Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! **

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**Dayton, Ohio (a few days later)**

Julie came in to find James sitting leaning against the counter bleeding from the cut Eddy's ring left on his cheek. She heard them fighting. The fight was her fault James said that whatever Eddy for whatever reason Eddy was keeping Julie away from her family and her past he needed to stop. Then, Eddy beat James up.

James was startled when he heard the footsteps behind him and the faucet turn on, but he didn't even react. He was numb. It had been his whole life that Eddy had pushed him around, bullying him to do everything he wanted. Now, he was bullying some girl. If this weren't enough, he was bullying an amnesiac. But once James said anything, he flipped out, hit him, and ran off.

"James." Julie said quietly.

"I'm fine. Just go get some rest. Eddy won't bother you. He went out."

"I know, and that's thanks to you. So, please turn around. Let me just clean up the cut. It's the least I can do."

James could feel the sincerity in her voice. He knew what it was like to be made defenseless by Eddy, be taken advantage of. "Alright."

"Thank you." She said. James was surprised how quickly she found the first aid kit, but, then again, he really wasn't.

She wet the cloth and dabbed it tenderly on James's cheek. "So, you're dad told you about me?"

"Yeah. How much do you remember?"

"Only a couple weeks and even the beginning of that is hazy." She finished with James's face. "Thank you. For sticking up for me like you did. I must seem like some kind of freak show." She said sitting herself on the counter next to James.

"It's not your fault. What even happened? Do you remember anything?"

"I don't remember what happened. Sometimes I'll get these little flashes of a memory; a song, a picture, weird stuff like that, but then it goes away."

"Wow, it doesn't matter. You don't deserve this: whatever Eddy is doing."

"Well, thanks, but there's not much I can do, right? I'm kind of stuck. It's not like my dad's much better. I don't even really remember him."

An idea crossed James's mind. He wanted to leave, and Julie didn't seem eager to stay. The two of them could make it better than just one of them. He had the tips from the work he'd done in his dad's auto shop and whatever else they needed James could take from Eddy. It was perfect. Not to mention, Eddy was gone right now. It would give them a clean getaway. Sure, they didn't really know where they'd go but they could figure something out along the way. "But we don't have to be stuck." Julie looked at him, puzzled. "We can leave. You and I could run away. Why stay here and suffer through all of this? Listen, I'm not trying to be rude but you don't really have any emotional attachment especially not to here. So, why not? What do you think?"

"I'll do it."

"Ok do you need to pack?"

"Never unpacked." She smiled for the first time and James realized how unbelievably gorgeous she was.

"Okay, any ideas where to go. My older brother lives in a town in Pennsylvania called Llandview. We could go there just to, you know, get our bearings straight."

Julies's ears perked when she heard this name. Llandview?"

"Yeah, have you heard of it before?"

"Yeah, I don't know where from, though." Julie thought really hard for a moment but then relaxed. "Wait, I do."

James watched as she scavenged through her duffle bag and found a small, wooden box. She dug into the pocket and pulled out a polaroid photo. "Here it is- my only clue." She handed the photo to James. It showed a smiling Julia with her hair down in waves. She stood in front of a sign with the words "Buenos Dias Café- Llandview, PA".

"Perfect. I have a pretty good idea where this is too. I can take you here when we get to Llandview. But for now, let's get out of here before Eddy gets home." James took Julia's bag to keep her from having to carry it. As they got into the car Eddy pulled in next to them. "Damn it." James said realizing they'd lost their head start.

"James, what are we going to do?" Julia asked worry filling her blue-green eyes.

"I'm gonna drive. Don't worry, I'm an excellent driver." James pushed down hard on the accelerator in reverse and then turned hard, driving faster going forwards than backwards. "You okay?"

"Great." She smiled holding onto the handle. "Llandview, here we come."

**LLANDVIEW, PENLYVANIA A LITTLE OVER A MONTH AGO**

"Julia! Are you getting ready? Brody's taking you to school today, and he doesn't want to be late to work because of you!" Jess yelled up the stairs to her daughter.

"Sheesh Mom, I'm ready. Where's Brody?" Julia stood ready in front of her mother as she probably had been for quite a while. She was dressed in jeans, a pink sweater, and light brown uggs-believe it or not this was about as dressy as Julia got for school. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and put a black north face fleece over.

"You ready Kid?" Brody asked sipping his coffee out of a mug. Brody was Julia's mother Jessica's boyfriend who might as well have been her husband. Jess had two children, both girls, Julia who was turning seventeen in January and Bree who was four. Both had different fathers. Bree's father-Jess's late husband named Nash- died two years ago in a freak accident that briefly tore the family apart. Julia never met her father; Jess told Julia that he'd never had an interest in having children and ran when Jess got pregnant in of high school. Brody loved them as if they were his own kids. Bree who was very upset by her father's death immediately clicked with Brody laughing at his jokes and taking in his absolute kindness. Julia was a little more of a challenge. She was fairly skeptical of her mother's relationship at first and only referred to Brody as "him", "he", and "that guy" for the first three weeks of the relationship. Brody learned as Julia and he got closer and respected that this was Julia's way of showing her loyalty to her family and protecting them. He knew that for much of her life Julia had watched as Jess dated new men very frequently. Julia was trying to do her best to block Brody out because if she got close to him she would have an attachment if he and her mother ever split.

"Yeah," Julia said getting her backpack zipped and mouthing "Buenos Dias"-the local café in town with the best breakfast- to Brody.

"Listen Jess, she's ready early and so am I, so why don't I just take her to Buenos Dias to get breakfast and you can go back to bed until Bree gets up." Brody said. Julia and he did this frequently- go to breakfast before she had school and he had to go to work at the police department.

"Yeah, that's fine. But Julia, you owe Brody a huge thank you for this, you understand?" Jess replied. "Do not give him any trouble."

"I'm never any trouble, but I'll be extra well-behaved for him today." She smiled and kissed her mom on the cheek and ran out to the driveway. "Let's go Brody; they're gonna give away the good muffins."

"I'm coming," he yelled back. "I'm sure there will be plenty of muffins left when we get there.

"I'm going to hold you to that one." Julia smiled as she slid into Brody's car throwing her backpack on the backseat.

They drove a few minutes to the café. When they got to the restaurant, Julia grabbed her backpack suddenly remembering a piece of her homework she forgot. "Shit, I need a picture with this camera." She pulled out the Polaroid camera she'd gotten from the photography class she was taking at school.

"Okay, I have to say it, please watch your language." Brody definitely found it hard to try to act disciplinary towards Julia when he usually treated her like a friend.

"Now is not the time to worry about my mature vocabulary, Brody. If I have another incomplete in this class, the teacher's going to flip an S-H-I-T." She spelled the word out to please Brody. "Is that better?"

"Not much kid. What do you need a picture of?"

"Ummmmm," Julia looked around and found a flower outside of the car and took a picture of it. "Here Brod-", Julia handed him the camera as the photo developed in her hands.

The picture was just starting to form when Brody interrupted Julia's focus. "Smile for the camera kiddo." Julia looked up and smiled as quickly and eagerly as she could. The camera clicked and Julia lunged for the camera and photo.

She glanced at them eagerly. "That's a quality picture, Brody." Julia stuffed the photo of herself in her bag and gingerly placed the other in a folder.

"Yeah, takes quality to be treated like that. Come on, I don't want you to be late." So Brody and Julia walked into Buenos Dias Julia's wavy hair bouncing as she walked.


	3. School and Memories

**Chapter three! Thanks to those still reading and thank you for the review Laura201112!  
I can't tell you how much your support means! Please don't be shy and let me know any of your comments or input at any time!  
Anyways, Enjoy!**

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**LLANDVIEW, PENLYVANIA a LITTLE OVER A MONTH AGO**

Julia had gotten to school in plenty of time after breakfast with Brody. Now she was sitting in Lit class, but however boring the class may have been and however likely Julia thought it was that the teacher grew marijuana, it was better than being at home. This morning was better than most but that didn't say much. After Julia's biological Grandfather Mitch reappeared in Llandview her whole life was on the fritz. Her Uncle Jared was dead so her Aunt Natalie was a wreck, Rex was actually her uncle too, and not to mention the concern alone that her psychopathic Papa was back in town. John McBain- the lieutenant in the police department and the town's white knight- was doing everything he could to keep Mitch locked up but none of his charges were sticking (mainly because the new Mayor- Dorian Lord- was totally in his pocket). At least at school, she could just breathe. Her senior year was going to be a breeze she could already tell. Julia took multiple AP classes throughout her first three years instead of electives so now all she really needed was typing, consumer's ed, and other random classes for life skills that translated to easy A's.

Julia's phone was vibrating on its lowest setting in her pocket so that she could feel it but no one else could hear it. Inconspicuously, Julia checked the text from under her desk and saw it was from her cousin Matt and said "Call me". Matt was probably in lunch right now since it was fourth hour so Julia asked to go to the bathroom keeping her phone with her.

She checked the bathroom to make sure no one was in it and made the call to Matt.

"Hey Mattie what's wrong? Julia asked when he answered.

"Something big is happening, Jules." He started. "They're not letting anyone out for lunch. I tried to call my dad to see what was going on but the line was busy." He took a deep breath. "Be careful. I don't know what's happening."

Neither may have known specifically what was going on, but both had an inkling it had to do with Mitch. "Alright, thanks Matt I got to go. Love you." The two hung up and just as the bathroom door opened and a teacher walked in. Julia smiled at the teacher hoping they hadn't seen her phone before she shoved it in her backpack.

Walking in the hallways, Julia knew she should feel safe because of all the classrooms filled with people around her, but somehow she couldn't. There was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Julia!" A voice called from behind her. Turning she saw it was the new art teacher Mr. Vega (Julia originally knew him as Cristian Vega whose family owned the Buenos Dias Café).

"Hi, Mr. Vega." Julia said.

"Hey, I wanted to let you know open studio is after school today, and I think you should come in and work on that painting- it looks like it's coming along really well, but I want to make sure you're not rushing it." Cris Vega thought Julia Buchanan was about as good of a kid as they came-not that he expected much less from Jessica Buchanan's daughter- and was nothing like the obnoxious kids she chose to associate herself with. She got good grades was active in every opportunity given to her and seemed to be friendly to every kid he saw her with. However, Cris also knew that Julia had only taken the class in order to achieve an easy A and fulfill her fine art requirement but he actually saw a lot of artistic potential in her if she would just apply herself rather than just turn in a cookie-cutter assignment she knows will give her a good grade. And after the short period of time when Cris had convinced himself that Julia- his high school sweetheart's daughter who was given birth too only a little while after graduation was his-, he wanted to make sure she got something out of the class.

"Okay, Mr. Vega. I'll work on it in class, but I'm not sure if I can come after school. I have practice." Julia smiled tried to wiggle herself out of any extra effort. She did like art a lot surprisingly, but other things had to take precedence to it in order for her to be the perfect Buchanan descendant she needed to make up for the fact that she was an oops from on stupid night her mom had in high school.

"Okay, I understand." Cris gave in. "Shouldn't you be in class?" He asked realizing that he'd found her in the hallway in the middle of a period.

"Yeah, I was just going back I had to use the restroom." Julia replied uncomfortably.

"Enough said." Cristian said. "So, I'll see you eighth hour and hopefully after school then."

"Okay, bye," Julia smiled and took off down the hallway in a quick-paced walk.

Later that day, Julia never showed up to eighth hour. If he hadn't known better Cristian would've thought she was cutting class, but in truth, Julia Buchanan had been kidnapped and wouldn't be returning very quickly.

**DAYTON, OHIO Current time**

James and Julia had been driving for almost three hours now. Julie guessed they were somewhere in Ohio still, but she didn't remember her own birthday, so trusting herself to remember the setup of the east coast was a stretch. "If you're tired, you can take a nap. You don't need to be up to watch me drive." James said.

"No, it's fine. It's the least I can do. I mean you're letting me tag along on your escape. That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me, or at least I think it is. I don't have much to compare it to." Julia looked to James and laughed.

James smiled back. "So the radio's not the greatest but you can put on whatever you want or you can check around if there are any CDs." He pressed the radio's "ON" button and Julie-not remembering any specific stations- just kept it on. She read the title but couldn't really recognize the title or artist but the song did sound familiar. Music seemed to be one of the only familiar things to Julie.

"So are you still in school?" Julie asked trying to strike up a conversation.

"I graduated high school last year." James said- unsure what to say next because of Julie's mental state.

"Okay, gotcha, I was in my senior year before the accident."

"Nice, do you just like have a break or something now?" James said.

"Yeah, I was homeschooled with by my dad before I came to work for yours, so I'm guessing the breaks were self-delegated."

"Do you remember anything about your father?

Julie pushed her hair behind her ear deep in thought. "Um yeah, he's a pastor or something like that-the woman who drove me to your dad's shop kept referring to him as the shepherd or something like that."

"Wow, so your life is basically just one big puzzle right now." James laughed.

"Basically." Julie replied laughing along with James all while taking a deep breath and relaxing into the seat of James's car.

"Then this is going to really be fun." James smiled as he merged onto I-80 towards Llandview.


	4. Nightmare or Memory?

**Hello Everyone! Thanks to all the great support! I've really been wanting to put this story down on paper (I guess the internet's not really paper but you get the point), but I wasn't sure how people would like it or even read it. Knowing that you guys are reading it and enjoying the story so far means a lot to me! **

**Thanks again! I hope you enjoy Chapter 4! And keep coming back to read and- as always- please let me know what you're thinking- your opinions mean the world to me!**

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**SOMEWHERE ON I-80 A FEW HOURS LATER**

Julie was half-asleep when James nudged her. "Hey, Julie, I think we should stop here for the night. I don't think we'll be able to make it through the night."

"Yeah, okay, I'm cool with that." Julie looked up and saw a scummy motel that looked like it was from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

James looked at Julie's appearance of hesitation and smirked. "I have an extra blanket or two in my trunk so you don't have to worry about using theirs."

"No I'll be-" Julie tried to deny her worry, but James interrupted with a skeptical look. "Thank you."

"That's what I thought." James said smirking.

"You just love being right, don't you?"

"Well, I don't really know what it's like to be wrong." He flashed a big smile and Julie couldn't help but return the favor.

The two grabbed their stuff and walked into the lobby. The manager was a dorky bald man who was about Julie's height. Julie and James got a room for the night but all they could afford to spend was one with a single king bed.

The two laid on the bed as far as possible from one another in an effort at modesty, and fell asleep in no time. But within only a few hours Julie started to experience something she had a lot of familiarity with after the accident-nightmares.

The dream started as it always did- in a dark room. The room had no windows and only a single door that was locked with a combination lock. Julie would get up and attempt to open the lock, but it was useless. Julie could hear familiar yells from outside the room saying her name but no matter how loud she screamed no one could hear her. Finally, a gunshot would go off and all the voices would stop leaving Julie in silence and darkness. Julie would scream and cry with no response until eventually she woke herself up into an eerily cold sweat.

James woke up to Julie tossing and turning on the opposite side of the bed. "Julie," he called out. "Are you okay?" He got no response so he turned the lamp to the side of the bed on. He could then see the pained expression on her face and knew it was his moral obligation to wake her up. He stood up and walked to Julie's side of the bed. He gently touched her arm and called her name out softly. "Julie, it's okay you're just dreaming. Wake up; everything's fine."

Julie's eyes jolted open in an instant.

"Are you alright?" James whispered gently.

Julie repositioned herself so she was sitting up on the bed facing James who was kneeling on the ground in front of her. She was still reeling from the dream. Something about the vain attempts to scream for help in those dreams always targeted Julie right in the pit of her stomach. Something about the fact that someone out there was talking about her as if they knew something about her and who she was but they were out of reach tore her up inside.

"Julie," James looked to her with eyes so kind it hurt.

"I-I'm s-sorry I woke you up." She stuttered forcing words out of her mouth as if they'd give her comfort.

"Don't worry about it." His hand was warm on Julie's cold shoulder.

Julie had no one- at least no one she could remember. Maybe taking a leap of faith and turning to James wouldn't be the worst possible decision that Julie could make for herself. And with one look, she knew she couldn't hold it together any longer.

Slowly, Julie's eyes began to fill with tears. James wrapped his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "In the dream, I was so alone. No one could hear me." She sobbed slowly into James's shoulder.

"It's okay. It's okay." James whispered into her ear. "You're not alone anymore."


	5. Nightmare or Memory pt 2

**Hope everything's going well with everyone! I'm sorry if this chapter is boring to some readers, but I thought it was important to set the stage for what was going on in Llanview at the time of the story (I'm also going to apologize in advance that the timing on some things are off, but I hope it doesn't bother anyone too much!)**

**So, here's chapter 5! Enjoy! Please keep up the reviews and feel free to give me any suggestions!**

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**Lllandview- A FEW HOURS EARLIER**

Llandfair was so silent it pained Jessica Buchanan some days. The house just wasn't the same. When she decided to move back into the family's mansion after she gave birth to Julia, she'd always thought that she would regret it being too noisy, but now he wanted nothing more than the noise back. Without Julia to rile the house up, it seemed as though the house had no energy left in it. Bree, Julia's younger sister was quiet and only spoke when she'd ask when her "sissy" was coming home from her "trip". In her own life, the fear that the child she was carrying's father was actually Ford's and not Brody's scared her nearly to death. The only comfort she had was the hope that her daughter would soon be home, and then, maybe, things could go back to something a close to normal as you could get in Llanview.

Every once and a while, she'd dream of her daughter. Tonight was no different. As the house turned silent, Jess's eyes closed and sleep slowly came. Soon after, she began to dream. It was an average waiting room that Jess was sitting in. However, the chairs were empty all around her, and the only other people in the room were the receptionists behind the counter. In the dream, Jess was waiting for the results of the paternity test she'd done on her unborn child. Her hands were sweating and shaking, and her eyes were threatening to cry.  
"Why the long face?" A familiar voice questioned from beside her. Jess looked up to see Julia with her forehead burrowed as it always did when she was worried.

"Julia?" Jess stood up reaching out to touch her daughter face.

"Yea, it's me." She gave her mother a look of being slightly creeped-out. "Can you stop touching my face?"

Tears filled Jess's eyes. "Of course I can!" She pulled Julia into a big hug. "I've missed you so much. I knew you'd be home soon."

Julia patted her mom's back uncomfortably. "I've missed you too, but I've only got a few minutes."

"What?" Jess pulled away and looked at her daughter skeptically. "You have a few minutes until what? You just got here. Where the hell are you going?"\

"It doesn't matter, Mom." Julia asserted. "But we have some stuff to talk about."

"But Julia," Jess started but was cut off by Julia.

"Mom, listen to me. I'm here mainly for your benefit." Julia's eyes were fiery with determination. Jess, dumbfounded, could only nod. "Okay, now that that's all settled. Let's get to this Ford business." Julia started to walk down the hall. "Are you coming, Mom? I don't like to just sit and chat. It makes me anxious." Jess followed.

"How do you know about Robert Ford? I've only told Kelly." Jess asked.

"Again Mom, it doesn't matter. Let's try to stay focused here, pretty please." The two started walking and Julia continued to speak. "I know you're scared about the baby, but everything's going to be okay. I promise. If Ford's the baby daddy, you'll deal with it; you always have. But there's one more thing, and this is serious."

"What sweetie?" They stopped allowing their eyes to meet.

"I want, no I need, you to stay strong. Don't let Tess or Bess or anyone else let you lose yourself." Julia breathed in and out deeply. "That's it."

"What do you mean 'that's it?' You can't just leave." Jess was working herself up.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye, Mom." Julia said it and in an instant she was gone.

"JULIA! JULIA!" Jess screamed repeatedly until she eventually woke up in a cold sweat.

A few hours ear, Brody Lovett sat in the police station. The main defense of Mitch and his band of misfit cultists is that Julia wasn't re-kidnapped and hidden after Jess was rescued but rather that she ran away. Of course, this can only be an investigation at this point because no one really knows what happened, but Mitch's attorney is already planning ahead. There have been talks of Mitch's lawyers subpoenaing Julia's diary. In doing this, Brody guessed, the defense would pin Julia as some misguided teen who couldn't realize how good she had it or- worse- that her family's issue had seeped into Julia but she never showed it. In honesty, Brody was scared either way. Who knew how all this would affect Jess and especially after what happened between him and Natalie he didn't want her to have any added pain or stress. Also, when Julia got home- which was going to happen, Brody had convinced himself of that much- she'd have had her personal life shared with the whole time, and that would just be unfair.

Luckily, however, Julia kept her diary- if he had one- so cleverly hidden- no one in the house could find it. Now, all he could do was wait and hope Julia came home or was found before this had to go on trial.

Just then, John McBain interrupted Brody's thoughts. "Brody, we have a lead on Julia's case. You're going to want to see this."

Brody practically leapt out of his seat into McBain's office and watched as the McBain pulled up the photo. It was a red light camera photo taken somewhere in Ohio, nut the girl in the passenger seat had a look on her face that Brody could identify from a mile away. It was Julia. It had to be. The way her eyes were scrunched and her nose wrinkled. There was only person who could pull that face off and that was Julia.

"I think we got her." John said from behind Brody.

"I think so too." Brody replied thanking the heavens above.


	6. Crossroads

_**Yay Chapter Six! I know it's long, but there's alot going on so I hope it doesn't seem to slow.I hope you're all still enjoying the story!.**_

_** As always, review, PM, follow and favorite pretty please! **_

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**SOMEWHERE OFF I-80 THE NEXT MORNING**

McBain and Brody drove all through the night. They searched the rest of the tollbooth photos and utilized any other tracking method the LPD could find and all signs pointed to this one motel. Brody was in disbelief that Julia would go within a 100-foot radius of this place especially after she announced to the whole Buchanan family she almost peed herself when she saw _Psycho_, but anything was possible, and this lead was the best they had.

In the motel, Julie's eyes opened slowly. The other side of the bed had visibly been slept in but now it was empty. Where did James go? Julie rolled out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. He opened the door quickly, but she was stopped by James standing in only a towel in the doorway. With little-to-no knowledge of herself, it was hard for Julie to know if she'd ever even had a boyfriend, nonetheless a type of boy she like, but Julie figured if she did have a type it would have to be a boy who looked a lot like James (especially with his shirt off). His chest and shoulders were defined and muscular, and his face was cute but somehow also hot.

Julie could feel her cheeks go hot with embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry." She stuttered as he stepped back to let James pass by. She may have been drowsy and only half-awake earlier, but now she was wide awake.

"It's alright." James smiled as he slipped past her. He put a shirt on and Julie went to the bathroom.

"So," James called to Julie as she finished drying her hands, "I think we should probably leave soon so we can hopefully get to Llandview soon."

"Okay." Julie said easily as she brushed her long, dark hair. "Have you heard anything back from home?" She looked to James who looked slightly puzzled.

"Oh Dayton? That place was never a home to me." James looked down. He'd been getting his butt kicked by Eddy as long as he could remember.

"I'm sorry." Julie said unsurely sitting on the bed next to James.

"Oh my gosh, I'm not mad." James said kindly as he turned to Julie. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay, I just don't really know how to be sensitive to other people's bad memories because I don't have many."

"I think you're more than plenty sensitive, so you never have to apologize for that kind of stuff. We're friends." James stumbled on his words. He didn't want to freak the attractive girl out by declaring their friendship after only a few days. "I mean, we kind of have to be. We're running away together." James winked at Julie.

Julie laughed in response. "I'm fine with being friends. So far, you're really my only one."

"Well, I couldn't be prouder to call myself Julie Lawrence's first friend." He had heard his father talking about Julie on the phone before the two of them left and referring to her as "Lawrence's daughter".

"Feeling is mutual, James Ford." She smiled but then her head started to sear with pain as it had at random times ever since the accident.

"You okay?" James looked to Julie with deepening concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine- just a headache." She rubbed her forehead

Just then, there was a loud beating on the door to the motel room. "Open up, you two! Eddy sent us here. He wants the money you two took from him and for you two to go back!" A deep voice yelled.

James practically leaped off the bed to the balcony. Julie followed the two climbed down the side to the car leaving their backpacks and whatever they took into the motel room there. "Hurry," James said as he grabbed Julie's hand and guided her to the car.

"Who was that? It sounded nothing like Eddy." Julie asked as the two buckled their seatbelts.

"It's probably some goon my dad hired." He held on to the back of Julia's chair as he pulled out of the parking space.

Julie could see who she thought were the men that were banging on the door to James and her room but chose not to mention it.

James saw the men too and only pressed his foot down as hard as he could on the accelerator. "Let's get out of here." He said as the car sped onto the highway.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Julie smiled as she reached down to get directions from her backpack which should've been on the floor in front of her. "James," Julia panicked thinking that her only keys to her past may be gone for good. "We have to go back. We left the directions; they were in my backpack."

James sighed knowing that he had no idea exactly where they were going but also knowing going back to the motel wouldn't be a good idea for either of them. "We'll be okay. Let's just keep driving and we'll stop to get a map at one of the rest stops."

Meanwhile, Brody and John walked up to the front desk of the motel where a short, bald man with glasses stood. "Hello sir," John started knowing he would have a little more finesse than Brody in a matter such as this. "We're from the Llandview Police department but we've been given broader jurisdiction for a particular case. Have you seen this girl before?" He pulled the most recent photo of Julia they had and showed it to the man. Brody's heart stopped beating as he waited for a response.

"Let me see," the man pushed his glasses down his nose and held the picture up close. "Hmmm, yes, I have. She checked in here last night."

Brody and John smiled and looked to each other. "Well, where is she now?" Brody asked losing control in his excitement. "This is an ongoing missing person's case we need to see her right now."

"Okay, well, let me call the room they're in." Brody had to restrain himself from barreling down the hallway to find her. The man hung up the phone. "Yes, I'm very sorry officers but there was no answer."

John looked to Brody, but before he had time to think. Brody grabbed a pair of keys hanging on the wall without a second set for guests assuming they were to Julie's room. "Sorry's not going to cut it." He ran towards the rooms.

"Officer!" The man called after him.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this." McBain replied as he hurried after Brody.

By the time John caught up to Brody, Brody was already in the room. "It's empty." Brody said in disbelief. For a moment, Brody was disheartened, but then he saw the light yellow and gray backpack- a match to the one Julia took to school with her the day she was kidnapped. Inside the men found the photo of Julia standing in front of the _Buenos Dias Café _that Brody had taken that fateful morningand a map with the route from Dayton, Ohio to Llandview, Pennsylvania highlighted.


	7. Nowhere To Go

**Here's chapter 6! I'm so sorry it took me this long to update, but school, volleyball, etc. got in my way. It's a short, but hopefully effective chapter for you guys! **

**Thanks for reading! Please keep giving me your feed back- you guys are great!:) **

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**SOMEWHERE ON I-90**

"James, what are we going to do?" Julie asked nervously glancing at the dangerously low gas tank well-knowing that whoever Eddy sent to chase them was still following them.

"It's going to be okay. I called my brother, Bobby, and he's going to meet to try to help us. He said he's driving towards us now."

"Okay," Julie was still freaking but decided to hold her tongue. That was until she looked in the rear-view mirror and figured out that the same car had been tailing them for the past couple miles.

Finally, John and Brody had found Julia and whoever her mystery escort was. They'd been following them for quite some time keeping a few cars between them. However, it seemed to both men they weren't the only ones following them. Whoever had scared Julia from the hotel had was following the two runaways also. John knew this would reach a breaking point at some time and he had already called backup to handle the situation.

The gas tank was about five minutes from being empty and that's when James decided he and Julie needed to pull over. Bobby would meet them at the gas station.

"Here goes nothing." James said pulling into the turn lane.

As soon as the car was stopped at the gas pump, the car with Eddy's goons pulled up right behind them and got out guns with their guns pointed at Julie and James. "Get out of the car now." They barked.

Julie did as she was ordered her head filling with a fierce pain.

But then a third car pulled up and two more men got out. "Stop it! Llandview police!"

James looked to Julie with confusion, but she was only staring blankly forward.

The two men working for Eddy started to put their guns away but then one turned to point at John, but Brody shot towards the gun and the man dropped his weapon. The situation was seemingly under control until all the men looked over to find Julia collapsed on the ground.

"Jules!" James yelled running to her.

Brody ran over too. He didn't know this kid. He didn't trust him, but the look of terror and concern on his face made Brody believe he wasn't all bad. "An ambulance is on the way! Julia's going to be just fine."

James was confused. "Who is Julia?" He looked down to Julie bewildered.


	8. Returning Home

**Hello Everyone! So, I know the postings seem to have more and more time between them, but I am truly and honestly working as much and as fast as I can.**

***Important Note: I am not a doctor, and I really have no knowledge about what is and isn't an actual injury- especially when it comes to brains and that stuff. With that being said, please don't take any of the diagnoses too seriously. I'm really sorry if this bothers you too much, but I do my best.**

**On that note, I hope you all enjoy!**

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**LLANDVIEW, PENNSYLVANIA About an hour later**

Brody wasn't able to ride with Julia in the ambulance, but the last he saw of her they were trying to revive her. He knew nothing about medicine, but Julia's situation wasn't looking good to him. Now, he sat in the waiting room of Llandview's hospital waiting for Jess to come. He didn't think this was something he could tell Jessica over the phone, and the doctors couldn't tell Brody anything about Julia's condition because he wasn't her parent or guardian.

Finally, Jess arrived visibly flustered. She was waiting for this call for a month now. It had to be Julia. It had to be. Her daughter was home, and everything was going to be fine.

"It's her; isn't it?" Jess rushed past Brody to the rooms frantically searching for Julia. "Where is she? Is she okay? Brody." She turned to Brody who had finally caught up.

"It is her. Jess, she's home." Brody looked to Jess.

"She's home." Her throat was closing with tears, and her eyes were wet. "Where is she?"

"Don't freak out, but she's in surgery. I don't know exactly what's happening because I'm not a legal guardian."

"How can you tell me to not freak out when my formerly kidnapped child is now in surgery? Where's her doctor?" Jess looked just in time to see a younger-looking man in a white jacket approach her.

"Hi, Ms. Buchanan, I'm one of the doctors working on Julia's case. Before I tell you anything about her condition currently, I want to tell you she's just fine." Jess let out a sigh of relief. "However, she seemed to have some kind of brain trauma both physical and mental recently, and this has sent her into a state of shock."

Jess breathed in heavily. This was her fault. The shock therapy Mitch gave to her must have also been administered to her child. "When can I see her?"

"Not for a little while. They have found some slight internal bleeding in her brain. It sounds a lot worse than it is. I won't go into all of the medical details, but the surgeons are going to clean as much of it as they can and stitch her up."

Jess was reeling. The doctor was right: it all sounded bad. "Okay."

The doctor nodded. "There's one more thing." He paused to let Jess refocus. "The trauma in the brain is centered on the part of the brain that studies have shown as where memories are stored."

"Are you saying my child is an amnesiac?" Jess looked to the doctor. She went a pan of time not remembering who exactly she was, and she feared now that she'd experience what her family went through.

Brody stood silently the whole time. It almost all made sense now. She didn't remember anything. That's why she never came home. That's why she didn't recognize the two cops at the gas station. There was only one person who knew what was going on with Julia before they found her. "I have to go back to the station." Brody said walking towards the door. "Call me if there are any changes."

James was just arriving in the Llandview Police Department. Some lawyer- Elijah Clarke- walked in with Bobby just in case even though all of the cops assured him over and over again- quite annoyingly- that he was in no trouble.

"If he's in no trouble, the handcuffs aren't necessary." Elijah said, and his hands were free within seconds.

The men led James to a small interrogation room where he sat a across from two cops. One had long dark hair and had been at the gas station when Julie collapsed. The other was the commissioner and he was old with graying hair. "Go ahead, officers." Elijah said.

"Do you recognize this girl?" They pushed a picture of Julie in front of James.

"Yes, that's Julie." James continued to tell the entire story of how he'd met her when she was working for his father.

The men nodded taking notes and looking more confused as he continued to speak. The older of the two finally said, "Her name is actually Julia Buchanan. She's been missing for a little over a month after being kidnapped by her grandfather."

James was stunned. He recognized the name Buchanan; they practically ran the town of Llandview. He'd even heard Bobby talk about a kidnapped girl from Llandview. How could Julie be all those things?

"You're not in trouble, James." The old man said. "As long as you continue to cooperate with us to arrest your father and Julia's grandfather, you receive immunity for any felonies you may have committed along the way."

The men finished with that, but James couldn't bring himself to move. It sounded stupid, but he suddenly realized he knew nothing about the girl he ran away from Eddy with.


	9. Waking Up

**Hello again! Who knew I could get so much done with just a free weekend?  
**

**Thank you for the continued feedback- I love it! Please keep it coming! **

**Hope you enjoy! Have a great day and week!**

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**LLANDVIEW, PENNSYLVANIA**

Julia's eyes opened slowly. The headache she'd had was dulled by all the medications the IV in her arm was pumping into her system.

"Sweetie," the nurse who was adding more medicine to her IV looked up, "your family is going to be right in. You have no idea how much they all missed you. They're going to be so happy to see you, but take it easy. You're on a pretty stiff dosage of painkillers."

But Julia didn't understand any of it. She felt numb and only nodded. She was still half asleep, so she tried to let the fact that she had no idea what was going on not bother her.

Jessica's heart raced as she walked down the hall to Julia's room. "Now Bree, what do you need to do when you see Julia?"

"Be gentle." Bree replied innocently, but Jess wasn't too concerned. All she cared about was seeing her little girl again; if anyone was going to be too rough with Julia out of love, it was Jessica.

Brody held Jess's hand firmly as they walked into the hospital room. They both walked down the hall prepared for the worst, but as soon as they saw her, they knew; it was Julia, and there was no doubt in either of their minds she knew exactly who they were.

"Julia! Julia! Julia!" Bree squealed running over to Julia's bedside. "Mommy told me I had to be gentle, so I'm just going to squeeze your hand."

"O-okay." Julia said dazed.

"The drugs are going to make her a little out of it, but she knows everything from what year it is to the president." The doctor said from the doorway. "I'll give you all some time."

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Jess asked.

"Never better," Julia said eyelids heavy.

"There's that humor, Julia. Obviously, the meds are treating you well." Brody smiled.

"Yea," Julia smiled with her eyes closing.

"Okay," Jess said, "let's let Julia rest."

"Wait," Julia said with the most energy she'd had in this whole conversation, "there's someone I need to see."

"Who?" Brody said.

"I want to see James, the boy I was with when you guys found me. I owe him a thank you."

"Okay, I can do that." Brody said as he left. "But until then, you rest your butt off."

Julia only smiled; she was finally relaxing.

In a little less than an hour, James showed up.

"Hey, I'm so happy you came." Julia said eagerly. "Close the door. I need to talk to you."

James looked at her suspiciously. "I have a feeling you didn't get me here for a thank you."

"Listen, you know how back in the motel you said we were friends? Well, I need your help, friend." Julia smiled at James pleadingly.

"What do you want me to do? Don't you have basically the whole town at your disposal as far as friends and favors go." He looked to Julia almost hurt. He thought they were just alike, and now he was finding out that they were nothing alike. Eddy used to always tell him to watch out for rich people because they're used to getting what they want and once they get that they only want more.

"That's the thing, James." Julia smiled again in a forced way. "You're the only person I can ask for help because you're the only person I remember. I need your help to remember everyone else or at least make it look like I do before they realize."


	10. AP Julia

**Sorry for the delay! Happy early Thanksgiving- hopefully I'll be able to update before then!**

**Hope you like it! Thanks for everything!**

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**LLANDVIEW, PENNSYLVANIA**

"I'm sorry, what?" James replied in disbelief.

Julia let out a sigh. "I didn't realize you were going to be this difficult. I really need your help." Julia looked up to James with utter sincerity. "I know this is probably pretty awkward for you. I mean, you just met me, and now I'm a totally different person: I have a family, a life, and all these memories with all these people. Even my name is different." Julia paused with a deep breath. "My point is that I understand this is weird for you- I may be brain damaged, but I'm not stupid- but you're the only person I trust. I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but it pretty much spans my entire memory, so it's a big deal to me. That's why I need your help and no one else's."

James looked to Julia bridging the gap between the spoiled rich girl he imagined Julia Buchanan being and the girl he ran away from Ohio with. Maybe there was still a piece of the girl from the chop shop in Julia. "I can help you. I'm just not sure what you really need my help with."

"James, thank you so much." Julia squeezed his hand out of excitement. "I just," Julia searched for words, "you're the only person who knows this surgery did nothing to bring my memory back, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"You want me to keep the fact that a medical procedure did not fulfill its purpose and by doing that help you lie to your family. Why?" James asked.

"I don't want to cause them anymore problems. I've already been enough of a burden on all of them. I mean you should have seen the look on their faces when they saw me. They were so relieved and happy, and I felt nothing- but guilt for feeling nothing at all."

"Okay, I don't necessarily think this is a good idea, but I'll help."

"Thank you! And you don't need to worry because I have a plan." Julie looked to James with a smirk.

"This is going to be good. Let's hear it."

"I have diaries and scrapbooks- I heard some of my family talking about it. All I need to do is relearn my life."

"I hate to burst your bubble," James started but Julia cut him off.

"Then don't. I didn't lose total mental capacity: I can still remember my multiplication tables, the pledge of allegiance, how to factor a polynomial, and tons of other things I had to have learned at some time."

"Your point being?" James looked to her doubtfully.

"If I could learn all of those things once and still remember it a brain injury later, relearning my life shouldn't be too bad. It's like AP Euro. But instead the history of Europe, it's the history of Julia."

James finished processing what he'd just heard. "So you're planning on memorizing the memories you're supposed to have as if those scrapbooks and diaries were textbooks?"

"Basically, it's brilliant, don't you think? And what's worst thing that could happen? It all falls through and I have to talk to a shrink or something-that's it."

"Yeah, it sounds great." James said discreetly sarcastic. "But, Julia," James called out trying to refocus the girl in the hospital bed.

"Yeah, James?"

"You should probably see a shrink either way." He said half-jokingly.

""Yeah, I probably should," Julia smiled, "but I probably won't." Her smile grew bigger. "So now, you just have to get these diaries and scrapbooks. The scrapbooks will probably be easiest, and that's okay. I don't need all my inner thoughts and feelings right away."

"Of course I do." James said. "And how do you want me to get these things? I can't just break into your house and take them."

"Sure you can. You ran away from your father with an amnesiac, James Ford; you can do anything."

James looked to her without words: _she's beautiful_, he thought, but _I think she'd be this crazy with or without the brain trauma_.


End file.
